jml
Junior Member
Posts: 56
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Post by jml on Sept 26, 2017 12:05:06 GMT -5
It was inevitable I would nominate him.
2017 has been Okada's year. Good to great matches with Omega (three times), Suzuki (didn't like the first match, liked the second in the G1), Tiger Mask W, Fale, Shibata, Cody, Elgin, SANADA, EVIL, Kojima, and Juice.
Could be a number one guy for sure.
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Post by armsofsleep on Sept 26, 2017 12:52:35 GMT -5
I would definitely take his 2017 over almost any other year of his career. I still wouldn't consider him a number one contender, but he's been really good at making other guys look great. It bothers me that he's rarely the star of his big matches, but he made Omega a superstar, made Suzuki look like a badass (G1), elevated Elgin, EVIL, Juice, etc. Also, having my MOTY (with Shibata) doesn't hurt. Even though he has some duds (first Suzuki match, the Omega draw), I'm still impressed.
At some point on this forum I will probably write a 10 page essay about Shibata/Okada and how great it is.
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jml
Junior Member
Posts: 56
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Post by jml on Sept 27, 2017 3:35:03 GMT -5
I would definitely take his 2017 over almost any other year of his career. I still wouldn't consider him a number one contender, but he's been really good at making other guys look great. It bothers me that he's rarely the star of his big matches, but he made Omega a superstar, made Suzuki look like a badass (G1), elevated Elgin, EVIL, Juice, etc. Also, having my MOTY (with Shibata) doesn't hurt. Even though he has some duds (first Suzuki match, the Omega draw), I'm still impressed. At some point on this forum I will probably write a 10 page essay about Shibata/Okada and how great it is. I'm with you on Shibata/Okada. To me, that was the 6 star match and the best match New Japan has put on in the 5 years that Bushiroad has owned the company.
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Post by bossrock on Sept 27, 2017 13:49:28 GMT -5
As polarizing as he may be, it's safe to say 2017 has easily been the best year of Okada's career. And while some may say his opponents looked better than he did (particularly Omega and Shibata), it really says something that Okada has been the common link in many of New Japan's best matches. The Omega trilogy is arguably the best in-ring feud of the year, he had a clear MOTYC with Shibata, delivered an underrated banger with Tiger Mask, and consistently had good to great matches in the G1. He's currently my number 2 but has a very strong case for number 1.
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Post by venegas on Sept 27, 2017 13:51:32 GMT -5
Shibata/Okada is one of my favorite matches of this year but it had almost nothing to do with Okada. So there's that.
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Post by onorub on Sept 27, 2017 14:19:00 GMT -5
3rd favorite this year and champion of the year.
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Post by jamesie on Oct 1, 2017 23:13:36 GMT -5
Can't see anyone doing anything in the last three months of the year to stop him being my number 1. One of the greatest in ring years any wrestler has ever had.
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Post by problematic on Oct 4, 2017 10:09:27 GMT -5
I think I've finally turned a corner on Okada. For years I've just sort of seen him as a Japanese Randy Orton in the sense that he's obviously a good athlete, obviously has had some great matches, but also never really connected with me and came across as robotic and sterile more often than not. Now I see him as a guy who is capable of incredible highs, and on his best night might actually be one of the best handful of guys in the World. I still don't buy that he's having an all time legendary year in the ring, but he is having one that will safely land him on my list, and probably very high.
I watched the Omega match live from the Dome and thought it was a very good match, but was needlessly long (the first third is clearly filler, if you made an argument that the first portion of Reigns/Cena was filler and praised this match uncritically admit your extreme NJPW bias now because it's there). For that I was branded a black mass satanist by much of the New Japan crowd and even though I watched every major NJPW event through April it was kind of the beginning of the end of me giving a fuck about that promotion. I can hang on to watching something absent many big time players I am invested in, but when you are called a contrarian, idiot, loser for LIKING a match you know you are now dealing with a religious mindset and New Japan isn't my faith tradition. So while the Shibata match was absolutely tremendous and probably the best match of the New Japan revival I kind of folded up my NJPW tent at that point. The match turned me off not just because it raised questions about a style and approach, but also because Shibata was one of the two topish NJPW guys I actually cared about (the other being Elgin). But I did come out of it thinking that Okada had put in a tremendous performance.
I've thought a lot about Okada since because I do think he is the run away Thesz/Flair winner this year, and in thinking about that more I decided I should watch at minimum his best singles matches of the year. And it turns out that unlike in years past I generally thought those singles matches rated very highly and delivered on a big time level.
From what I can tell the guy sort of has 3 variants of working that can basically be boiled down to surprisingly tough guy Okada, asshole heel Okada, and I can do thinly veiled spotfests too Okada. My favorite version of him asshole heel, though surprisingly tough guy has actually produced his top two matches of the year. Thinly veiled spotfest Okada has had some very fun matches but I tend to think every match that I see as fitting into that category is at least a bit overrated.
Of the major, heavily touted, Okada matches the only one I haven't watched is the Omega draw. I know that I probably should, but I don't know if I can bring myself to do it. The G1 match was a spotfest, and pretty decent, but didn't grab me at all. In fact it's probably my least favorite Okada singles match of the year other than the first Suzuki match which I thought was an okay idea conceptually that was poorly executed (and I don't really blame Okada for it to be honest). So it's hard to get motivated about sitting through an hour long match at this point when your criticism of the first match was needless filler.
Having said that I thought very highly of his performance in the Kojima match. In fact I thought it was excellent and in some respects the best he's ever been. A fine synthesis of character and skill and a truly great match. The EVIL match was very good though probably a hair overrated by some people even though the stretch was something. I enjoyed the Elgin and Tiger Mask W matches as sort of spectacle heavy, borderline spotfests. The TMW match went too long in my view (honestly you could say this is the biggest criticism I have of Okada in general), the Elgin match was an excellent match of that style which is not my favorite but props where it's due. The Juice match was quite good and worked just as I would like to see that sort of match. The second Suzuki match was absolutely brilliant and among the best matches of the year anywhere.
I think it's kind of unquestionable that he excels as a true ace, so I worry about them fucking with that going forward. He's a guy who is better as the top dog than he is as the guy in the chase in my view. You could argue that the rainmaker has been bastardized a bit this year, but I never bought that move as a killshot finish so I mind it less than I should. I actually think it's more effective the way it's used now.
Probably not a surprise that my favorite Okada year is the year where he's kept away from Tanahashi.
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Post by notoriousgib on Oct 5, 2017 2:23:33 GMT -5
Even as somebody who's been more reluctant to join the Okada hype train than others, he's still easily in my top 20 and probably in my top 15. He's had a few matches I didn't care for at all (first Suzuki match, Fale and Cody) but my issues with those matches aren't really because of Okada at all. He had an incredible run in the G1 and should finish with some good matches to solidify a phenomenal year.
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Post by armsofsleep on Oct 5, 2017 7:53:17 GMT -5
Rewatched the Shibata/Okada match today. Put it right there with Canis Lupus vs Trauma I and Reigns vs Lesnar. It's a top 3 match of the 2010s.
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Post by thewashingtonposter on Oct 14, 2017 11:11:02 GMT -5
Great year, very overrated. Still, would place in my top 25. Some of my sticking points, terrible babyface works better as a dick, I think he flip-flops between the two. Isn't a good seller and has needlessly long matches. Sometimes he comes off as formulaic to me, he has a comfort zone and excels when he gets out of it, thought he did so against cody, shibata and kojima.
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Michael
Full Member
Posts: 249
Pronoun: He/Him
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Post by Michael on Jan 18, 2018 16:02:32 GMT -5
Hey, he finally made it into my Top 10.
The Kojima G1 match was absolutely tremendous.
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Post by Dante, The Voc on Jan 19, 2018 13:12:05 GMT -5
Kaz.
He ended up at #17 in my list for 2017. Just under Andrade "Cien" Almas.
Much like a lot of the NJPW roster, he's top heavy in his résumé. The Omega matches were all very good but nowhere near as impactful as some of the other trilogies that took place in 2017 (the broadway gimmick at Dominion in particular wasn't on the level of the other two). Shibata was fantastic but took a while to get going. He had almost no standout matches after the G1.
He suffers from going waaaaaaay too long for his own good (a staple of NJPW main events it unfortunately seems) and conforms to his one type of match. Out of his nine G1 matches, he did the Rainmaker/hold the wrist/second Rainmaker spot in SIX of them. The Kojima match was fantastic because it was such a departure from that formula.
Anyway, he absolutely is worth his main event status, but there are a lot more wrestlers out there doing a lot more interesting work throughout the year than him.
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